https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 17 May 2026 14:07:56 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2784261 Sun, 05 Nov 2017 08:02:21 +0000 periwinklebee 2784261@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Goose: @2littlepumpkins: Thank you, this is super helpful! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2784192 Sat, 04 Nov 2017 16:48:06 +0000 2littlepumpkins 2784192@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@LemonJack: I agree, there is a huge range of normal!</p> <p>My first was way more difficult than my second, but at the same time I think I was much more intuitive with my second. I also really tried from the beginning to teach him to fall asleep on his own. (Not cio style though.) I was also much less anxious about it and didn't spend so much time recording or over analyzing the patterns, etc. I watched tv but I tried to hold him so he didn't face it and I kept it pretty quiet.</p> <p>Just remember nothing is permanent especially with little babies. A lot of how you do things will just depend on the baby! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2784125 Sat, 04 Nov 2017 00:22:51 +0000 Mrs. Goose 2784125@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@periwinklebee: getting to them before they fully wake up is key for my babies. Then they sort of sleep/eat for a few minutes (anywhere from 5-20) during the night and it’s much easier to put them back into the crib beside me. </p> <p>Some babies stay awake longer and if they poop or get gas it can make it take longer. I find at night that if they’re sleepy they actually latch better, that’s my kids anyway, so there’s less gas occurring. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2784103 Fri, 03 Nov 2017 19:05:38 +0000 periwinklebee 2784103@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@SweetiePie: @gingerbebe: Thank you, these tips are super, super helpful! </p> <p>@matador84: Interesting, seems like hearing them stir before they're fully awake could be really useful. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2784086 Fri, 03 Nov 2017 17:40:41 +0000 matador84 2784086@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would be up with my first child for HOURS at night. I thought I was totally losing it. I don't think I was feeding him enough. With my second and third child, I have bedshared so I hear them rustling, I nurse them, and they immediately would go back to sleep. Rarely was I ever up with them for more than the time it took to feed them! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2784084 Fri, 03 Nov 2017 17:37:52 +0000 gingerbebe 2784084@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My first was like MrsADS' son. He was almost an only child and I have PTSD from his newborn stage.</p> <p>DS2 had reflux too, but milder and he's way more laid back so his second month of life was tough but that was it.</p> <p>I generally say this to new moms:</p> <p>Weeks 1-2 they will likely be sleepy, but want to clusterfeed and be held a lot.</p> <p>Weeks 3-6 they "wake up" and often have their days and nights mixed up. So it's not uncommon to have a kid who naps like a dream during the day and then is up and at'em at night.</p> <p>Week 3 and week 6 is usually a growth spurt so sleep is rough during that time. Feed the baby as much as possible - the more they eat, the faster the spurt passes.</p> <p>Weeks 6-10 are considered the height of fussiness if you have a colicky or fussy baby. It will taper after week 10.</p> <p>Week 8 is a big Wonder Week for development so they are also often fussy during this time, so that will affect sleep.</p> <p>The biggest thing I can recommend is line up help the second month, not the first. Pick a wake time in the morning and get baby up, exposed to sunshine so the circadian clock can align ASAP. Bedtime should roughly be 12 hours after the wake time. After that bedtime hits, keep it dark and quiet to enforce nighttime, again to help set the circadian rhythm. Newborns can hardly stay awake beyond a feeding - like 45 minutes and they're down. 2-3 months, my kids had 45-60 minute wake times. By 4 months they could do 75-90 minutes before nap. </p> <p>If your child needs help sleeping in the middle of the night, you can feed and hold until they are dead asleep like past the twitching stage and you can pick up their arm and drop it (20 mins after they doze) and transfer. Swaddles help, and I usually put a warm rice sock in the bassinet so they felt warm and cuddled. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2784080 Fri, 03 Nov 2017 17:11:27 +0000 SweetiePie 2784080@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mdf106: What I said upthread was that I tried to get the bottle ready at the first hint he was waking up. I then waited until it was obvious he wasn’t going back to sleep, but not wailing. I agree that waiting a bit can help them self soothe.<br /> As for all the other stuff, different strokes for different folks I guess. :wink: I like to follow professional sleep advice to a T. Sleep is vital for me so it’s the thing I’m kinda crazy about. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2784070 Fri, 03 Nov 2017 16:35:16 +0000 mdf106 2784070@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@SweetiePie: I actually had good luck with not feeding immediately, I felt it led to my babies being about to self soothe earlier, because sometimes they would just go to sleep. They would almost always poop while feeding, which required a diaper change, and would wake them up, so there would not be much advantage. I always turned on a light, I found it very difficult to get a good latch with the lights on. I also always watched tv, it never seemed to have too bad of an effect, and it made night feedings so much more tolerable for me. I did avoid talking to the baby and eye contact. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2784068 Fri, 03 Nov 2017 15:45:49 +0000 SweetiePie 2784068@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@periwinklebee: here are some tips to help Keep them sleepy at night:</p> <p>- no lights on. Just use a nightlight (leave it on when they go to sleep so it’s not “New” light if you have to turn it on for a change or feed. This is also wonderful, I left it on the changing table and had it down near his feet so it never bothered him and it’s a very soft glow:<br /> <a href="https://www.walmart.com/ip/Munchkin-Light-My-Way-Nightlight/23258644?wmlspartner=wlpa&#038;selectedSellerId=0&#038;adid=22222222228017178797&#038;wl0=&#038;wl1=g&#038;wl2=m&#038;wl3=40341142232&#038;wl4=pla-78298297352&#038;wl5=9004075&#038;wl6=&#038;wl7=&#038;wl8=&#038;wl9=pla&#038;wl10=8175035&#038;wl11=online&#038;wl12=23258644&#038;wl13=&#038;veh=sem" rel="nofollow">https://www.walmart.com/ip/Munchkin-Light-My-Way-Nightlight/23258644?wmlspartner=wlpa&#038;selectedSellerId=0&#038;adid=22222222228017178797&#038;wl0=&#038;wl1=g&#038;wl2=m&#038;wl3=40341142232&#038;wl4=pla-78298297352&#038;wl5=9004075&#038;wl6=&#038;wl7=&#038;wl8=&#038;wl9=pla&#038;wl10=8175035&#038;wl11=online&#038;wl12=23258644&#038;wl13=&#038;veh=sem</a></p> <p>- no talking. No whispering or engaging or anything. Shushing is the only thing that’s ok if they are crying. </p> <p>- no eye contact. Glancing down for feeding is ok but don’t lock eyes if they are open (it stimulates them almost more than anything)</p> <p>- change as little as possible (as I mentioned, often it’s ok to leave pee diapers and only change poop). </p> <p>- try to feed soon after they stir so they don’t wake too much </p> <p>- try not to use phone or watch tv or anything during night feedings. The glow/noise can wake baby up more AND it also makes it a lot harder for you to get back to sleep.</p> <p>These all worked for me! Inevitably my husband would do one of the above no-nos when he took an occasional shift and I’d wake to a screaming baby (he was a major offender of turning on all the lights and talking in a normal voice. I seriously don’t think I’ve ever been more mad at him than in those moments :silly: ) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2784019 Fri, 03 Nov 2017 13:56:44 +0000 catomd00 2784019@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My kids never screamed for hours in the middle of the night. I nursed them and they fell back asleep. If they didn't want to be in the bassinet, we coslept. I'd honestly stop wasting your time reading books about sleep. It's ever changing in the first few months, even years. Just do what works at the time. There is no magic bullet that will create a unicorn baby that sleeps through the night consistently. Part of being a parent is losing a lot of sleep. The sooner you accept it and know it's all a phase that you'll get through, the easier it will be to manage. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2783979 Fri, 03 Nov 2017 12:09:18 +0000 gilmoregirl 2783979@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@LemonJack: I agree on wide range of normal. My first needed to be rocked for anywhere between 10 minutes and like... hours. My second always fell back to sleep while nursing. They're just very different sleepers. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2783879 Thu, 02 Nov 2017 21:37:28 +0000 LemonJack 2783879@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think there's a wide range of normal. My first struggled with sleeping and was up for hours at night. It was really hard to get her to go to sleep. This was for the first few months. Eventually she got better at the sleep thing, but she always woke up a lot as an infant, no matter what we tried. We eventually just co-slept because that's the only way we could get any rest.</p> <p>My second would go back to sleep with minimal rocking after a feeding, and slept through the night at three weeks. So, the exact opposite of my first! If I could guarantee our next baby would sleep just as well I would definitely have a third! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2783865 Thu, 02 Nov 2017 19:43:04 +0000 delight 2783865@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Both of mine just fell right back to sleep nursing for MOTN wake ups. I would change diapers and reswaddle always before feeding. </p> <p>For DS, he found his thumb around 6 months which has made putting him down for sleeps and naps super easy. He always just pops in his thumb and is out like a light. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2783852 Thu, 02 Nov 2017 18:35:38 +0000 periwinklebee 2783852@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thank you everyone - this has been super helpful in terms of getting more of a sense for the range of what to expect. The advice about not doing anything to make them too awake, unless they need to wake up more for weight gain, is really helpful. Also, good to know about the 3-4 month regression.</p> <p>Really sorry for everyone who had lots of difficulty with reflux or other sleep issues, and best of luck to those who are still in the middle of dealing with it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2783812 Thu, 02 Nov 2017 14:21:45 +0000 Dahlia 2783812@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DD was the nightmare child people talk about. She had her days and nights mixed up for far longer than any of our friends' babies. Then she would wake up 5+ times a night (but go back to sleep quickly) until we sleep trained around 7 months. Didn't sleep through the night consistently until 16 months. Since then she's been great though! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2783811 Thu, 02 Nov 2017 14:20:50 +0000 muffinsmuffins 2783811@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DS was born at 35 weeks so he definitely was the sleepy newborn for the first month who we had to keep awake to maintain his weight. We had to wake him to feed every 2 hours after his previous feed ended. It would be about 1 hour to change him, feed, burp, rock and back to sleep. </p> <p>After he caught up and we didnt need to wake him, we still had wake ups every 2-4 hours for like 3-4 more months. He usually went back to sleep easily so it wasn't like dealing with screaming all night...it was more the frequency of wake ups that was killer. I would feel like I would just get back to sleep and he would need to eat again, or I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep after waking up with him. At 9 months his sleep turned a corner with less nursing and wake ups and by 12 months he was mostly STTN and continued that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2783782 Thu, 02 Nov 2017 13:35:05 +0000 annem1990 2783782@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My LO IS 8wks. He's always gone right back to sleep after feeding. I imagined pacing the house with a screaming baby in the middle of the night, but that has yet to happen. On the few occasions he hasn't gone back down, one of us just holds him in bed until he falls asleep (an hour at most). But we stay totally quiet and don't turn on lights so the other can sleep. </p> <p>Daytime naps have been more challenging. That's usually when he screams and gets overtired. Some days he's able to easily fall asleep in the car seat, rock n play, etc., others I can only get him to nap in the Tula carrier. But I'll take what I can get :wink: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2783778 Thu, 02 Nov 2017 13:26:16 +0000 petitenoisette 2783778@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>She pretty much always went back to sleep easily after/while nursing her (STTN was a whole other story - that unfortunately took 2 years). In the hospital the nurses got us into this routine of changing her beforehand and we did that at home for a little while until I realized that just because the pee strip indicator on the diaper was wet that it didn't mean she needed a change. So I am looking forward to knowing that this time because we definitely made the wake-ups longer than necessary for a little while. Unless they are not gaining enough weight or falling asleep too soon into a feeding then I think it's good to keep wake-ups as low key as possible. Just something I wish I had realized earlier as a FTM! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2783758 Thu, 02 Nov 2017 12:51:49 +0000 BeatlesFan629 2783758@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DS is 4 months and since day 1, he always went right back to sleep after eating. He started STTN around 8-10 weeks.</p> <p>DD was a different story. She had her days and nights confused so she screamed all night and slept all day. It took a while to correct that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2783755 Thu, 02 Nov 2017 12:44:28 +0000 mdf106 2783755@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My first would go right back to sleep, and sleep in longer stretches from the beginning, but was really hard to get down in the first place. My second would be up for an hour at each night waking, he was on a two hours of sleep one hour awake schedule day or night. He wasn't screaming though, just awake. Both started sleeping better after about 6 weeks, and consistently STTN by 4-6 months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2783753 Thu, 02 Nov 2017 12:40:37 +0000 KT326 2783753@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Both of mine were the typical sleepy newborns until about 4 weeks. Then from 4-8 weeks they were up screaming at night. My first wasn't too bad, about an hour of rocking and he would go back to sleep. My second though.... he would scream from midnight to 3 or 4am. Every single night for weeks. The doctor said some babies just cry, she gave me some tips to try but nothing really helped. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2783745 Thu, 02 Nov 2017 12:18:46 +0000 Madison43 2783745@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My oldest was a dream - as a newborn, she would basically fall asleep while eating or while burping and transferring easily back into her bassinet. My youngest - whoa. She had reflux, and needed to be rocked and soothed for an hour plus after eating. It was so bad that my husband and I slept in shifts for a few months and just took turns holding her all night. It was brutal :bummed: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2783723 Thu, 02 Nov 2017 11:50:19 +0000 cake2017 2783723@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MamaBear87: Thank you for sharing! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2783722 Thu, 02 Nov 2017 11:49:44 +0000 cake2017 2783722@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsADS: Aww okay! I am glad he is better! thank you for sharing! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2783720 Thu, 02 Nov 2017 11:47:56 +0000 MrsADS 2783720@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@cake2017 he is 2 now and it is better although he is still on Nexium. I had to go on a strict elimination diet (I exclusively breasfted and he also had bad MSPI) and he was on 3 reflux meds. We eventually had some improvement but not until about 11 months old when we drastically increased his Nexium dosage. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2783717 Thu, 02 Nov 2017 11:44:38 +0000 kiddosc 2783717@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My two almost always fell back asleep while nursing. But I agree with @SweetiePie: that the trick was to not let them get too awake. They both also had multiple night time wake-ups, so even though each wakeup was a quick 15-20 minute feed, it was every 2-3 hours in the beginning, eventually getting to longer stretches. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2783716 Thu, 02 Nov 2017 11:41:58 +0000 cake2017 2783716@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsADS: My son has reflux. It was bad when I supplemented with formula. Right now I exclusively BF and it helps a lot. He does wake up often since changing his schedule to eating every 2.5 hours. Did your baby”s reflux improve? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2783713 Thu, 02 Nov 2017 11:36:18 +0000 MamaBear87 2783713@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@cake2017: my little is now 2. We tried sleep training and it failed horribly. She cried for 2 plus hours multiple times. We ended up cosleeping and that got everyone more sleep. At 8 months my husband started putting her to sleep at night and she slept better, still ending up in our bed by 3 or 4.<br /> There was nothing that worked she just eventually grew out of it. Now at 2 she sleeps great at night, 11-13 hours but no longer naps.<br /> Good luck! Hope your little goes back to sleeping well </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2783712 Thu, 02 Nov 2017 11:33:27 +0000 MrsADS 2783712@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Well... I hate to even post because everyone else has written their NBs basically fell back asleep after nursing/feeding but I guess you should hear the other side of the coin. </p> <p>Keep in mind - my son had extremely severe reflux (like he was hospitalized for it at one point), so this is likely not "normal". But literally after I nursed him at night, it would not uncommonly take an hour or more of rocking, swaying, bouncing, walking, etc. to get him to fall asleep. Most of this time he was screaming his head off and spitting up like a fountain and choking, not just laying there. (Same for naps.) He would go back to sleep, I would go back to sleep, and we'd be up an hour later to do it again. It was truly a nightmare. I cried a lot. It was a very dark time.</p> <p>That being said, I think that is HIGHLY unusual and you're very unlikely to have an experience like that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-it-take-to-soothe-your-newborn-back-to-sleep-at-night#post-2783709 Thu, 02 Nov 2017 11:26:20 +0000 PawPrints 2783709@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For the first few months, DD would go back into the co-sleeper with no protest at all and just put herself back to sleep after mid-night nursing. I think (?) most (non-colicky) newborns do fairly well after nursing; the trouble is when they get to 3-4 months old and lots of developmental changes are happening.</p> <p>(Actually even at 3-6 months when we were struggling with naps and sleep training and schedules etc., DD still was very easy and consistent about going right back to sleep after mid-night nursing sessions. With a few notable exceptions.) </p>